Teal Bunbury will miss the rest of the 2012 season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament
against New York on Sunday night. The Sporting Kansas City forward is scheduled for surgery on
Friday and will need six to eight months of recovery.

Peter Nowak says of Saturday's win, "It's a tribute to our boys. Even with two red cards, we
didn't give up much. We deserved to win."

ProSoccerTalk says of the game, "Expect multiple suspensions for some late uglinessâ€”and
stupidity. Peter Nowak led the charge off his bench and onto the field as several players imposed
themselves on a situation that referee Juan Guzman appeared to have in hand.

Peter Nowak joined Twitter to much acclaim last August, with fans and writers seeing the move as
a positive one for team and supporter interaction. Eight months later, Nowak left the social
networking site at a time of increasing fan criticism.

Nowak had appeared to embrace Twitter prior to the start of the season, tweeting regularly from
his iPad.

You'd be forgiven for not noticing but both Barcelona and Spain have been without David Villa
for the best part of eight months since the forward splintered his shin bone
during the Club World Cup semi-final in Yokohama back in December of last year.

Eight months after David Villa suffered a nasty leg break during Barcelona's Club World Cup
semifinal, forcing him to miss the rest of the season and Spain's historic Euro 2012 victory, the
prolific striker has returned.

With Barcelona already up 4-1 (two goals from Messi, of course) in the 75th minute of their La
Liga opener against Real Sociedad, Villa entered the match and nine minutes after that, he scored
after a combination of passes between him and Andres Iniesta.

UPPER MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- Eddie Johnson may seem like a confident player for the Seattle Sounders
these days, but that's only because of the belief his new team has had in him.

After spending eight months without a club and rejoining MLS this past winter, Johnson has
shaken off a rough start to the season by finding the scoring touch that made him one of the most
lethal forwards in MLS prior to his departure for Europe four years ago.

Juventus coach Antonio Conte has been banned for 10 months for failing to report alleged
match-fixing involving Siena when he managed them in the 2010-11 Serie B season.

Conte had a plea bargain deal rejected by the Italian federation (FIGC) earlier this month, a
proposal which would have seen him serve a three-month suspension and pay a fine of 200,000 euros,
and the federation have now confirmed the 10-month sanction.

Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic is glad to have made his return to football with
yesterday's goalless exhibition match against Norwegian side Valerenga but has hoped for more
urgency from his teammates starting with next week's friendly against Barcelona in Sweden.

United and Barca won their respective leagues in 2011 and also squared off in a massive
Champions League final at Wembley, with the latter comfortably emerging the winner with a 3-1
score.

Andre Villas-Boas has expressed his delight at the Tottenham Hotspur squad he will inherit in
preseason training a few days later, stating that it is a privilege for him to work with the
players at White Hart Lane.

Villas-Boas, 34, was dismissed as Chelsea manager only eight months into his reign last April
amid concerns that he was unable to manage the egos within a highly experienced Blues dressing
room.

Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy has confirmed the appointment of Andre Villas-Boas as the
club's new manager on a three-year contract.

Villas-Boas had been linked aggressively with a move to White Hart Lane following the departure
of Harry Redknapp last month and many within English football only considered his appointment to be
a matter of time.

Former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas witnessed his multi-year project come to an end with a
premature sacking merely eight months into his reign but the Portuguese coach is not deterred by
the experience.

Villas-Boas maintained his silence about the disappointing stint with the Blues for weeks after
his sacking in the first week of March but has recently re-emerged in the spot light.

Departing Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has shed light on the manner in which former manager
Andre Villas-Boas was dismissed in March, reaffirming that senior players had no involvement in the
matter.

Villas-Boas was relieved of his responsibilities merely eight months into what was initially
intended to be a long-term project, with the aggressive changes he made to the team selection
policy identified as a key factor.

Many of today's headlines have been dedicated to Arsenal completing the capture of Germany
striker Lukas Podolski, who will join the Gunners next season after trying to save his current club
Cologne from Bundesliga relegation.

Podolski was linked with a transfer to the North London club a few weeks ago but dismissed the
speculation to focus on Cologne's struggles.

Portuguese attacker Bebe still has a future at Manchester United, according to Alex Ferguson,
after the forgotten man of Old Trafford popped up to secure a draw for United at the death against
Ajax Cape Town.

Lucas Leiva made his comeback from injury as Liverpool played out a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC in
Brendan Rodgers' first game in charge.
The appropriately named Rogers Centre was the venue for the start of the new Liverpool manager's
reign, and there were plenty of positives to take from an intriguing encounter in Canada.

West Brom boss Roy Hodgson is not expecting a warm welcome when he returns to Anfield on
Sunday.
Hodgson makes his first return to Anfield this weekend since being sacked by the Reds last year
following an ill-fated spell on Merseyside.
The experienced manager was dismissed in January 2011 after just eight months in charge before
returning to management with the Baggies only 37 days later.

The Rest

10! 10! 10! Fabrice Muamba received top marks on Christmas Day for making another huge and rather glittery step in his recovery from the cardiac arrest he suffered on the pitch in March. Just nine months on from being seconds from death and being told he can never play football again, the former [.

After leading the club to a flawless Serie A victory last season, Juventus coach Antonio Conte
has been banned for 10 months after being found guilty of failing to report match-fixing that was
going on under his nose at former club Siena (then of Serie B) back in 2010/11.

It's nearly here, and you can't say you didn't see it coming. Eight months ago, Wayne Rooney
flicked his boot toward a forgotten Montenegrin, and the Euro-drama carnival clicked into gear.
Capello left and Hodgson came, and England was engulfed in a saga that revolved largely around a
man who won't be at the Euros.

Shakhtar Donetsk won the Ukrainian Premier League for the third time in row by beating
Oleksandria 3-0 on the final day. Immediately after the final whistle sounded and Shakhtar's
four-point lead over Dynamo Kiev was cemented, several Shakhatar players celebrated by joyously
squirting manager Mircea Lucescu with water bottles.

What I enjoy about following soccer is not limited to the actual, physical sport. I find the
social, political, and emotional facets of the sport fascinating as well. Franklin Foer covers
those aspects in his book, How Soccer Explains the World, under an umbrella of a discussion on
globalization.

On Wednesday, U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann spent nearly an hour on a conference
discussing a wide range of topics with reporters, covering everything from his review of the
Olympic Qualifying process to his plans for the senior team this summer. Here's a quick preview of
his responses. Click here for the full transcript, or listen to the podcast.